......finding a new home for lutefisk lovers.

(ok we don't love it. or even like it. but we're supposed to.)

12 July 2010

Say Goodbye to that DVD Player, kid

Today we said goodbye to the Family Truckster; the Chrysler Town & Country Super Ultra Minivan that has been our home for the last 20 days. Everyone says you'll only make fun of a minivan until you drive one. After which you'll hear angels sing and convert. Hmmm.........both of these drivers are completely nonplussed. I don't dislike it - I just don't see what the big deal is. For us, it turned into a giant garbage can on wheels. We were like the Bumpuses flying down the highway throwing our Ritz Bitz wrappers over our shoulder. Just cause we can. It's the All-American Dream: having so much space that you're compelled to fill it up with stuff. Our stuff just happened to be garbage.

The Xterra and the Biscuit Hauler had their own cross-country roadtrip on a car transporter and finally arrived at Mike's office on Friday.........14 days late. While they were missing in action, I chose to be in complete denial. People lose cars all the time, right? I'm sure they'll turn up. I have bigger fish to fry.

After they arrived, I saw our cars sitting side by side in the parking lot and it felt like a happy reunion. It was like finding two orphans, playful Xterra and his older sister Audi, who persevered over miles and miles of questionable terrain, inclement weather, and handlers who didn't love them. Just to be reunited with their family; the man who puts the seat all the way back, the woman who puts her seat all the way forward, and the little boy who has grown up in the backseat.

By the way, I blame all this personification on Herbie the Love Bug. I know that LOGICALLY cars can't cry so why do I feel sorry for them?

So I got in and relaxed into the familiarity of my 12 year old wagon that has taken such good care of me for so long. It was freakishly identical to the day it was hauled away from our house in Minneapolis.......it even had the same garbage in the cupholders. (note to self: must be more diligent about garbage removal). And it felt strange to have this piece of home in a place that was not my home.

Nonetheless, this brings us One Step Closer. We are now one step closer to living here. In the next few days we'll get through the red tape of buying a house and we'll say goodbye to our Residence Inn family. And then the adventure really begins.

3 comments:

Sam and Jack are still standing around in front of your house, staring at the front door. (Maybe they need to use the bathroom.) Ezra and Ambrose just strut right up and press their faces against the basement windows.

You will miss it...all of you so cozy together. Soon you will be saying to Mike "have you seen Liam anywhere?"And for gods sake...teach your son how to take pictures or buy one of those extend arms for your camera so you can be in a shot or two!Glad you get to go to a "home".

OK full disclosure: if I prod Mike or Liam to take a picture (which is truly PRODDING), the pictures are always bad. Not only are they technically bad photos, but they usually feature me from an incredibly unflattering angle with dark shadows all over my face. Which may not even matter since I would just be a tiny dot in the middle of some vast uninteresting scenery. So my frustration goes beyond their unwillingness to take photos. But I like the idea of an extension arm - will it fit in my purse?

What is this?

An account of one family's migration from the city of lakes to a leafy east coast beach town ........and back again........as documented by their leader, a woman with OCD tendencies with regard to the jotting of notes, the making of lists and the taking of pix.